Drinking-cup.



J. K. SHAW.

DRINKING 0UP.

APPLICATION FILED rmme, 191s.

Patented Feb. 23, 1915.

2 HEIGHTS-SHEET 1.

J. K. SHAW.

DRINKING 0UP.

APPLICATION FILED PEB.19, 1913.

. 2 sHBETssHEBT 2.

b 6 F d e b n 6 t a P DRINKING-CUP.

L129Jl30.

' Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented net. as, its.

Application filed February 19, 1913. Serial No. 749,340.

To all whom it may concern .1

Be it known that I, JOHN K. SHAW, a citizen of the United States, residing at Minneapolis, in the county of Hennepin and State. of Minnesota, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Drinking- Cups, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved sanitary drinking 'cup, the primary object being to provide a cup which is hermetically sealed until used and which is adapted for use at drinking fountains and public drinking places.

A further object is to provide a cup which when used will stand'erect upon its base, and which is particularly adapted when not in use to be folded into compact form convenient for carrying Other objects and important advantages will be apparent from the following description in which the accompanying drawings form a part thereof.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a simple form of my invention; Fig. 2 is another perspective of my invention; Fig. 3 is a developed plan of the construction illustrated in Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a developed plan of the construction illustrated in Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is a plan of another form of my invention; Fig. 6 is a developed plan of the construction illustrated in Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the construction of cup illustrated in Fig. 1, before the cup is opened; Fig. 8 is an enlarged vertical section of a detail of the construction illustrated in Fig. l g Fig. 9 is a side elevation of the construction illustrated in Fig. 2 before the cup is opened; Fig. 10 is a section of a detail of the construction illustratedin Fig. 9 after the cup is opened; Fig. 11 is an edge view of Fig. 9, the broken lines indicating the outline of the cup when opened and Fig. 12 is a, perspective view of another form of my invention illustrating a manner in. which the seal can be broken before the cup is opened.

Various features of construction enter into the production of my invention, but among these the idea of hermetically sealing the cups when in closed condition before they are used is incorporated. Further among these features will be found means whereby the cup will stand firmly in erect condition upon a base when in open condition. An-

other novel feature also to be found is the packing of a plurality of folded cups, so that at any time a desired number of cups can be segregated at will, and in the act of segregating, the cups are unsealed leaving them free to be opened and used without breaking the seals of any remaining cups in the package.

The construction of cup appearing in Figs. 1 and 8 consists of an envelop (see Fig. 7) scored or folded in a particular way to produce a body A having four vertical sides 2, 3, 4 and 5 and a flat base or bottom 6 formed with a pair of opposite extensions 7 and 8. The end of the envelop opposite that portion forming the base of the cup is adapted to be sealed closed by any suitable means such as adhesive material between the inner faces. In this manner the cup is adapted to lie in flat and hermetically sealed condition until the sealed end is torn or cut offv and the cup distended or unfolded in which is adapted to support the body of the cup upright when filled or partly filled. The fact that parts are provided in extension from thebase augments the bottom supporting surface and consequently the thin structure of the open body is carried without danger of closing. The sealed envelop before being opened is adapted to be removed by tea-ring or cutting the sealed or mouth end portion above the line 21 away (see Fig. 3). 1 t

The cup is adapted to be made from the blank illustrated in Fig. 3. This blank is substantially in the form of an oblong having on one of its edges bottom angle pieces 10 and 11 in extension of the oblong piece or body 12 of material. The body is adapted to be scored upon the vertical lines 13, horizontal lines 14, 15 and 16 and, diagonal lines 17, which permit the body and the angle .pieces 10 and 11 to be formed into the receptacle A. The method of forming the walls from the blank may be by scoring as described or by cutting or creasing the blank. The side edge 18 adjacent the score line 19 forms a flap which is secured over the opposite edge 20 such as by adhesive material or other suitable means. The angle extensions 10 and 11 are turned in upon the score line 15, the one being secured to the inner surface of one side and the other to the outer surface of the opposite side. In

this manner a flat envelop (see Fig. 7) is produced closed at the mouth end before the sides are extended to form the body of the structure disclosed in Fig. 1 The mouth end is sealed shut by adhesive material or other suitable means, the entire device thus being hermetically sealed before opening.

If it is desired to increase the stability of the base upon which the cup is adapted to stand when in open condition, the bearing surface can be increased and made to conform in marginal outline to a rectangle by the use of the blank illustrated in Fig. 4. This blank is made into envelop form by folding upon the line 30, securing the lap 31 over the edge 32 and the angle extensions 33, and 3& upon the sides of the envelop and finally sealing the mouth end above the line 35. This form of envelop is illustrated in closedor fiat condition in Fig. 9.. To open the envelop into the form of receptacle illustrated in Fig. 2 it is folded upon the remaining score lines indicated by broken lines in Fig. 4. As a result four folds or base extensions 36 are produced two of which (see Fig. 10) are secured to the bottom sides 37 by adhesive material or other suitable means. The securing of these lower-most extensions to the bottom sides of. the receptacle does not prevent these extensions and the sides of the receptacle from closing into flat condition as indicated byFig. 9. To open the envelop from the position illustrated in Fig. 9, the side edges are pressed in and the extensions 36 folded outwardly into the position illustrated in Fig. 10, thus simultaneously forming horizontal extensions above and at right angles to those illustrated in Fig. 10. The area of -'-the supporting surface formed by the base extensions is in this manner double the area formed by the extensions 7 and 8 shown in Fig. 1. While it is not necessary that the lowermost folds of the base be secured to the bottom sides of the receptacle as described, yet this means may be employed to prevent liquid placed in the receptacle from entering between the folds of the base and upsetting the cup. It will be noted that in this construction of cup the mouth is hermetically sealed and the cups may be bound in any form desired.

The cups as described or in modified form may be assembled inpacks from which one or more may be removed at a time. In Fig. 5 a pair of cups constructed in the form illustrated in Fig. 1 are made integral, their mouth ends being joined and thus sealed. A score or perforated line 40 across the mouth ends of the adjoining cups serves to assist in separating or tearing the cups apart. In Fig. 6 the blank from which this construction is produced is illustrated.

lVhen desired single cups may be sealed by s curing a flap 4:5 over the side of the mouth of the cup, (see Fig. 12), said flap being secured by adhesive material or other suitable means. To break this form of seal a thread 46 may be secured in the fold of the flap by which the mouth may be ripped open.

Cups constructed in accordance with my invention may be made out of paper or any other suitable material and the material employed may be treated with paraflin or other suitable material when desired to render the cups more sanitary or impervious to moisture and atmosphere.

In accordance ,with the patent statutes 1,

have described the principles of operation of my inventiontogether with the apparatus which I now consider to represent the best embodiment thereof but I desire to have it understood that the construction shown is only illustrative and that the invention can be carried out by other means and applied to uses other than those above set forth within the scope of the following claim.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is A cup, having a body formed from a fiat envelop-having a mouth end, sealed and removable to permit of the opening of said envelop when in flat condition, the sides of said envelop bein weakened upon longitudinal lines and ia onal lines, permitting said envelop to be formed into four vertical sides and its lower end folded into a flat bottom having angular base portions projecting beyond the planes of said sides after the sealed end of said envelop has been broken, said projecting portions being adapted to cooperate with said bottom and su port the said fiat sides erect.

n testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

JOHN K. SHAW. Witnesses:

B. G. DAHLBERG, F. G. BRADBURY. 

